SINGAPORE: Straits Times adopts 'shoot and share'
Updated
Singapore's Straits Times newspaper has celebrated the first birthday of its online portal with the news that it's had more than 70 million page views. The Straits Times Online Mobile Print or STOMP was created to allow Singaporeans to engage in citizen journalism and to discuss local issues.
Presenter:
Speakers: Girish Sawlani
SAWLANI: The Straits Times Online Mobile Print, or STOMP was established in June last year and has since experienced a phenomenal rate of readership and participation. Editor of Straits Times STOMP, Jennifer Lewis, says that the portal was established in response to the decline in newspaper readership among younger Singaporeans.
LEWIS: The whole idea of STOMP was really to engage the younger readers of the Straits Times. As with all established newspapers around the world readership is declining among the young group, so the bosses decided we had to go where the young people are, and everyone knew it had to be online. And that's when we realised we had to go down the route of social media, photo sharing, video sharing, blogging, discussion groups.
SAWLANI: Despite earlier suggestions that the Straits Times STOMP portal would not withstand the test of time, its one year anniversary is testament of its quality and success. Editor of Straits Times Stomp Jennifer Lewis.
LEWIS: I think the success of STOMP really is a matter of doing the right things at the right time. With the advance in technology now, STOMP has just taken off. For instance, if you look at the camera phone that has really been instrumental. We've been able to push the whole idea of shoot and share because of the camera phone. People take pictures of whatever interests them, they send it to us and all the pictures come into our system. And because we get so many pictures every single day we are committed to putting every single one up unless of course it is sexually offensive or offends a race or religion.
SAWLANI: The most popular feature of Straits Times STOMP is the Singapore Seen forum where local residents engage in citizen journalism and report on anything from catching litterbugs red handed to filming policemen sleeping on the job.
LEWIS: Singapore Seen is our number one feature in STOMP, but whole idea of citizen journalism has really taken off, and essentially because the people of Singapore realise that there's a platform for them to express themselves. Technology has made it easy so they realise that there is a sincerity on our part to allow everyone to express themselves as long as they're sincere about sharing an opinion, an image, we are sincere about posting it and sharing with the rest of Singapore as well.
SAWLANI: Although the internet features hundreds of web sites and blogs dedicated to providing alternative political views in relation to Singapore, the Director of Asia Resarch Centre at Murdoch University, Professor Garry Rodan, says that Straits Times STOMP is more significant because it stems from a government-linked institution.
RODAN: What's distinctive about this process though is they tend to be opportunities provided through state-controlled institutions and also that the form of expression is usually through individual expression, rather than collective independent expression. And this could be seen in some respects as providing more safety valves, more opportunities for people to let off steam.
SAWLANI: Singapore's ruling People's Action Party has long been known to clamp down on local and foreign media personnel who are critical of the government and its policies. With the internet however, the government has not been able to extact the sort controls it has over mainstream media. And this has allowed many Singaporean net users to criticise the ruling PAP government and its policies. Professor Garry Rodan says that the PAP government is now resigned to permitting more liberal political discussions to take place in the public domain.
RODAN: I don't know that it's an active attempt to promote liberal discourse, but I think it is a response to the growth in these websites and blog sites and a recognition that despite the various regulations that have been introduced, these alternatives to the mainstream media are likely to flourish. It's a case of if you can't beat them join them. What they're trying to do through government-controlled media such as the Straits Times is to try and provide avenues to capture some of that audience so that they're not going to alternative sites by default.
SAWLANI: Along with a plethora of alternative political websites on the internet, Dr. Terence Lee, Associate Professor of mass communication at Murdoch University, says that Straits Times STOMP offers hope for civil society in Singapore.
LEE: There is hope. It's the extent to which these people have a voice in terms of influencing policy, part of it has got to do with the internet, part of it has got to do with the fact that Singaporeans are incredibly mobile, they travel a lot, existing and living in various parts of the world. So when they return they bring with them a different ideology, different approach to dealing with day-to-day issues, grassroots issues, political issues. They have the kind of expectation that they be consulted one way or another, that they have a part in forming that policy.
SAWLANI: But Dr. Lee says that Singaporeans still have to be careful of what they say or publish.
LEE: You can't escape the fact that there are boundaries, especially when it comes to discussions around politics. I think that's still paramount in Singapore.
